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For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US

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Re: For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US

#71

Post by pastacacioepepe »

looping__lui wrote: post #64
pastacacioepepe wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh please. Cheap Energy is what made Germany the industrial powerhouse of Europe. Getting gas from Russia was one of the best things Merkel did for her country and its citizens.

What???? 1) It was Schröder (not Merkelh that started this entire gas thing with Russia (getting paid by Gazprom still) 2) Merkel decided in a completely irrational overnight move to just phase out nuclear. There was no strategy, just a personal preference by her ideological conviction Energy in Germany has been significantly more expensive than in the rest of Europe for probably a solid decade now… The big challenge…

> It was Schröder

Northstream 2 was planned under Merkel.

> Merkel decided in a completely irrational overnight move to just phase out nuclear.

No, it was an almost unanimous vote where even the opposition agreed with the government[0]. Nothing irrational about it, they decided to go for renewable instead of nuclear.

- 0: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/30/germany-end-nu...

Re: For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US

#72

Post by debesyla »

simplicio wrote: post #63
jillesvangurp wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that's often overlooked in statistics like this is roof top solar because it's just not that easy to account for. In places like Australia, where double digit percentages of homes have solar and where building codes are actually being changed to require solar panels, this is a non trivial amount that is putting a lot of pressure on energy suppliers to adapt. Effectively whole states are running on solar whe…

I don't really understand the advantage of rooftop solar over just putting the same number of solar panels in a field somewhere. Id think it would be a lot cheaper to install the panels in one-place then having to distribute them to a bunch of differently shaped and oriented roof tops, and cheaper to have a few large inverters instead of a bunch of small ones.

Depends on the country - some fields are better used for construction, farming or just being left as a natural habitat. And the roofs can't be used for any of those three things. So...

But it depends on the country. Some countries have a whole lot of "low use" fields, like natural or industrial deserts. Others don't.

Re: For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US

#73

Post by pastacacioepepe »

looping__lui wrote: post #59
revertmean wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So Germany, a country that is well behind other European countries on renewables, had an over-dependence on Russian gas and was forced to reopen some coal plants when the price spiked. And you came to the conclusion that this was somehow a fault with renewables? How does that make sense to you?

Because renewables (which I am personally fond of; PV on my roof) cannot cover Germany’s electricity needs/baseload but only supplement it. Driven by an ideological agenda of Ms Merkel and the green party, they shut down nuclear power plants (needed to cover our base load in chemical/manufacturing/whatnot) and replaced it with gas from Russia (don’t ask me why). Now that Russian gas isn’t exactly on the table anymore…

> Driven by an ideological agenda of Ms Merkel and the green party, they shut down nuclear power plants (needed to cover our base load in chemical/manufacturing/whatnot) and replaced it with gas from Russia (don’t ask me why).

You have been misinformed. They shut down nuclear to replace it with renewables. They already used Russian gas at the time.

Re: For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US

#74

Post by looping__lui »

simplicio wrote: post #63
jillesvangurp wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that's often overlooked in statistics like this is roof top solar because it's just not that easy to account for. In places like Australia, where double digit percentages of homes have solar and where building codes are actually being changed to require solar panels, this is a non trivial amount that is putting a lot of pressure on energy suppliers to adapt. Effectively whole states are running on solar whe…

I don't really understand the advantage of rooftop solar over just putting the same number of solar panels in a field somewhere. Id think it would be a lot cheaper to install the panels in one-place then having to distribute them to a bunch of differently shaped and oriented roof tops, and cheaper to have a few large inverters instead of a bunch of small ones.

1) you would use up less nature as no new land is repurposed 2) you produce it in close proximity to where its used

Re: For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US

#75

Post by timwaagh »

tjbiddle wrote: post #57

My comment isn't directly related to the OP, but figured it'd be an interesting insight to share as it's very recent for me. Just finished a motorbike trip in Laos. Fun fact, their largest export is electricity. Would've never guessed that, right? 90% of the electricity they generate is exported to neighboring countries - mostly Thailand. 80% is renewable - Go Laos! But wait, it may be renewable... but turns out the…

You think the energy transition can be achieved without harming people? Yes if you are a river fisherman you do not live in the right century. Nor do people living in mountain villages. There are those who will get cancer from working in a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Still it's not going to be that bad because the pollution from fossil fuel electricity generation is also causing a lot of disease and killing a lot of people.

Re: For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US

#77

Post by voisin »

travisporter wrote: post #58
tmountain wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have solar on my roof, but I had to negotiate a net metering agreement with my utility company. I have friends saying the same utility company is now pushing back on new agreements. It seems that stupid issues will need to be resolved before solar hits a critical mass. That said, batteries help.

I live in the southeast and was quoted 35k for a 7kw Solar and 36k for two power walls. With tax credits,~50k

I’m in BC, Canada and just pulled the trigger on 14.56 kw if ground mount for $42k CAD, tax included. Wondering why Solar is so much more expensive (ignoring the batteries) in your area? I’d think it would be a lot cheaper with more competition.

Going with Longi bifacial panels - does the US restrict or add huge duties on Chinese panels?

Re: For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US

#78

Post by looping__lui »

pastacacioepepe wrote: post #71
looping__lui wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What???? 1) It was Schröder (not Merkelh that started this entire gas thing with Russia (getting paid by Gazprom still) 2) Merkel decided in a completely irrational overnight move to just phase out nuclear. There was no strategy, just a personal preference by her ideological conviction Energy in Germany has been significantly more expensive than in the rest of Europe for probably a solid decade now… The big challenge…

> It was Schröder Northstream 2 was planned under Merkel. > Merkel decided in a completely irrational overnight move to just phase out nuclear. No, it was an almost unanimous vote where even the opposition agreed with the government[0]. Nothing irrational about it, they decided to go for renewable instead of nuclear. - 0: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/30/germany-end-nu...

Oh, Merkel certainly made it worse, but Schröder had a leading role… https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/23/world/europe/schroder-ger...

The opposition agreeing - you mean like the Green party who wanted to end nuclear like forever? Merkel had essentially absolute power in Germany and was leading some major changes that are hard to believe now… 1) shut down nuclear, 2) abolish compulsory military service, 3) open the borders for an uncontrolled influx of male refugees, 4) completely ignore Corona at first and then bulldoze over our Basic Law.

Re: For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US

#79

Post by yummypaint »

timwaagh wrote: post #75
tjbiddle wrote: post #57

My comment isn't directly related to the OP, but figured it'd be an interesting insight to share as it's very recent for me. Just finished a motorbike trip in Laos. Fun fact, their largest export is electricity. Would've never guessed that, right? 90% of the electricity they generate is exported to neighboring countries - mostly Thailand. 80% is renewable - Go Laos! But wait, it may be renewable... but turns out the…

You think the energy transition can be achieved without harming people? Yes if you are a river fisherman you do not live in the right century. Nor do people living in mountain villages. There are those who will get cancer from working in a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Still it's not going to be that bad because the pollution from fossil fuel electricity generation is also causing a lot of disease and killing a lo…

There are those who will get cancer from working in a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant.

It doesn't have to be this way, the engineering controls needed are well known. It requires the country in question to be financially committed to doing things right. For nuclear power this is already considered an essential prerequisite, yet coal power plants already release vastly more radioactivity and increase the cancer risk of everone around them. As far as reducing total cancer, nuclear is the way to go.

Re: For the first time, renewable energy generation beat out coal in the US

#80

Post by [deleted] »

travisporter wrote: post #58
tmountain wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have solar on my roof, but I had to negotiate a net metering agreement with my utility company. I have friends saying the same utility company is now pushing back on new agreements. It seems that stupid issues will need to be resolved before solar hits a critical mass. That said, batteries help.

I live in the southeast and was quoted 35k for a 7kw Solar and 36k for two power walls. With tax credits,~50k

[deleted]
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